Two hundred years ago today, Jane Austen published Pride and Prejudice, the classic tale of Elizabeth Bennett. Though the book has now sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, Austen (above) received £110 for the copyright from publisher T. Egerton, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

While Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, just four years before Austen’s death, she lives on in TED Talks. Here, five speakers who’ve mentioned Austen on stage:

Alain de Botton: Atheism 2.0
“And at the end of my talk, you would all stand up and you would go, ‘Thank you Plato, thank you Shakespeare, thank you Jane Austen.’”.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka — the man behind the Lunch Lady crime-fighting graphic novel series — credits his imagination with saving his life. In today’s talk, given at TEDxHampshireCollege, Krosoczka shares the story of how he became a children’s book author and illustrator. It isn’t a story full of rainbows and kittens — instead it stars […]

By Marianna Torgovnick It’s the story that inspired Moby Dick. In 1819, the crewmembers of the whaleship Essex watched in horror as their boat was struck by a sperm whale and began to flood. Forced into small boats with little food or water, they had three options: they could head to the nearest land, the […]